NBA legend Magic Johnson admitted he’s more comfortable with a basketball in his hand than building tools, but that didn’t stop him from accepting the “Dream Builder” honor from the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles at the organization’s annual gala.

“I haven’t held a hammer in a long time, but I know how to write a check,” Magic Johnson said flashing his famous big smile at a special reception for LA’s Habitat for Humanity. The philanthropic sports superstar and business man was on hand for a special meet and greet with Habitat’s supporters just before the start of the Builders Ball fundraiser held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Johnson was having a ball as the “Dream Builder” honoree at the gala. And he had fun becoming the event’s entertaining and most accommodating auctioneer when he auctioned off LA Lakers tickets. Magic promised, “Your seats will be behind the bench at the Lakers game, and then I’ll take you and your friends out to dinner.” The crowd went wild, especially two guys who were excitedly trying to outbid each other. When the bid reached its peak at $50,000, Magic agreed to do a special dinner and a Lakers game for both guys. And then Magic added more magic to the moment when he matched and doubled the donation himself. Magic’s equally philanthropic wife Cookie Johnson cheered her husband’s generosity.

“What Habitat for Humanity is doing is God’s work, putting people into homes, giving hope, building communities, and I’m happy to support their efforts,” Johnson told the crowd.

Erin Rank, President and CEO of Habitat LA, said she was thrilled to have Magic and the other honorees “help make dreams come true, not with a handout, it’s a hand up. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles we are grateful for our volunteers and donors.” In addition to Johnson’s honor, Bank of America received the Foundation Builder award, and Bernards, building and management services, was recognized with the Builder of the Year award.

With help from Magic, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles raised more than $750,000 at the Builders Ball. Habitat LA strives to eliminate substandard housing through advocacy, education and partnership with families and individuals in need to build decent, sustainable and affordable housing. Since 1990, Habitat LA has built, rehabilitated and repaired more than 1,000 homes locally and worldwide, transforming the lives of thousands of individuals. To learn more and volunteer go to www.habitatla.org. #

Vin Scully is undoubtedly the finest baseball announcer ever to call a major league game. The voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 60 years (he started with them in Brooklyn), Scully has announced games since the team moved to the West Coast. He has also announced golf tournaments and major league games with former major leaguer Joe Garagiola for the networks, but it is as the voice of the Dodgers that he is best known.

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Dodger Sportscaster Vin ScullyA Role Model for Wannabe Announcers, Vin Scully is the Voice of Wisdom

Most kids, at a young age, want to be major league baseball players. All that ambition fades when they ultimately realize they are not of that caliber on the playing field.

But there’s another way of sort-of breaking into big league baseball, and that’s announcing the ball game.

Vin Scully is undoubtedly the finest baseball announcer ever to call a major league game. The voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 60 years (he started with them in Brooklyn), Scully has announced games since the team moved to the West Coast. He has also announced golf tournaments and major league games with former major leaguer Joe Garagiola for the networks, but it is as the voice of the Dodgers that he is best known.

Just as major movie stars have advice for aspiring actors, so Scully has brief words for wannabe sports announcers.

“Well, first of all,” he says, “you get your education. You have to go to a university that has an FM station. Read a great deal so that you’ll be able to reach back when the pressure is on. When you need it. And then it’s in God’s hands.”

Scully is a Hall of Fame broadcaster whose status as one of the top sportscasters was reaffirmed when he was named “baseball’s all-time best.” He is in Cooperstown’s Broadcast section, and it is noted that his is the longest consecutive service with any one team.

In the 2005 book Voices of Summer, Scully was named as baseball’s all-time broadcaster, based on longevity, continuity, network coverage, kudos, language, popularity, voice, knowledge and miscellany.

The New York-born man joined Hall of Fame announcers Red Barber (his mentor) and Connie Desmond as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast team in 1950, just a year after graduation from Fordham, where he announced the school’s baseball, basketball and football games over the university’s local radio station.

From there he went over to the Dodgers, as a fledgling announcer, learning the trade from Barber, ironically, a Southern voiced sportscaster, from whom Scully admits picking up folksy phrases “and the announcing business itself.”

Scully’s smooth voice itself is such that fellow announcer Jaime Jarrin, who calls the Dodgers games in Spanish says, “Listening to Vin Scully calling the game is like watching Michelangelo painting a masterpiece.”

It has been said that Vin Scully has probably created more baseball fans than anyone who ever played the game. Los Angeles sportswriters claim he has lured more people into Dodger Stadium than any player– with the exception of Sandy Koufax. High praise, indeed.

When one woman admitted to him that she never knew baseball, but learned it all from his broadcasts, Scully humbly said “It’s an honor.” There is no false modesty to the man, who is as genuine today as when he first started.

What does he mean to the Dodgers? Peter O’Malley, whose family was the first to own the ball club sums it up this way: “In one word– everything. The class. The sincerity. The high regard everybody has for him. There’s no one else like him. He is unique. Any honor for him is well deserved.”

At a gathering of about 500 members at the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters awards luncheon, Scully was feted by various members of the sports world and Hollywood.

Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, still affiliated with the club in a consultant role, stated, “You can’t find words to describe him. Without a doubt the best in the business. He’s done a tremendous job for the Dodgers for sixty years. He’s just the best. Number one. What more can you say about him. Nobody can ever replace him.”

Scully has announced World Series and All-Star games, and even called ball games in foreign countries. His awards are numerous. Among his honors are the Ronald Reagan Distinguished American Award; the Lifetime Achievement Sports Emmy Award, and the Governor’s Emmy award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Scully was named the Outstanding Sportscaster four times and the California Sportscaster of the Year 29 times by the National Sportscasters Association. And he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Dodgers dedicated the Vin Scully Press Box at Dodger Stadium, and even a baseball field in Bogota, N.J. bares his name, because he lived there while announcing the Brooklyn Dodgers at the start of his career.

]]>http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/12531/2008/12/dodger-sportscaster-vin-scully/feed/0WEEKLY SPORTS WRAP-UP – Mar 15th, 2007http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/11897/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-15th-2007/
http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/11897/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-15th-2007/#respondThu, 15 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000http://enttoday.katzueno.com/s1-news/c57-sports/11897/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-15th-2007/The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: 17 days of pure adrenaline and anxiety, a two-week plus national binge of basketball and back stories of perseverance and triumph over adversity.17 days of upsets and emotions, of Cinderellas and last minute heroics.This half month known as March Madness is to many the greatest 17 days of the year, when there is no rest as we march on to the coronation of college basketball’s champion.Also, it is one helluva time for gambling.]]>WEEKLY SPORTS WRAP-UP – March 15th, 2007

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: 17 days of pure adrenaline and anxiety, a two-week plus national binge of basketball and back stories of perseverance and triumph over adversity.17 days of upsets and emotions, of Cinderellas and last minute heroics.This half month known as March Madness is to many the greatest 17 days of the year, when there is no rest as we march on to the coronation of college basketball’s champion.Also, it is one helluva time for gambling.

If you work in America, then you should know what a tourney bracket is.If you’re reading this paper, then you might not.A bracket represents the field of match-ups; you pick the winners, just like that.Some like to analyze types of teams and personnel in selecting the winners, some go by team colors.If you want to listen to a writer whose playoff predictions/analyses in the other sports is about 25%, then read on.

First, the obvious.#1 seeds have never lost an opening round game, and #2 teams have only lost four times, so it is best not to go against them in the first round.In fact, a top three seed have won the whole thing in 19 of the last 22 years.Since high seeds are the preconceived favorites and are set up with the easiest road to the Final Four, it just seems natural.Coupled with that is the fact that no team below a #8 seed won the tournament since it went to the 64 team format, seeding is pretty good indicator, but not always.Seemingly every year a 12th seed beats a 5th seed.

When trying to set up your brackets, one of the best signs of a team that will help you take money from people is having a star player.Not just a good player, All-America level player, especially a preseason All-American, who had the pressure of that title hanging over him all year.Also, a high scoring team tend to do well, especially if their frontcourt is putting up the majority of the points.Balance scoring actually seems to be a bad thing, since it indirectly signifies that a team doesn’t have a go-to scorer.

Don’t care about filling out brackets?Just want to bet on the games?Then watch the spread.Vegas always put out the line right after the announcement of the matchups, then shift the line back and forth.Why?The knowledgeable betters put money down early, whereas the majority tend to bet on game day.

Those who don’t know and are searching for answers pick up on the shift of the spread, thinking the odds makers are reconsidering who will win, or at least how well the teams match up.Wrong!It’s actually the opposite.They want to split up the smart betters from the lazy betters, thereby hedging their odds of taking your money.So if you want to wait to the last minute, go against the shift of the spread.Do that and you just might win, or might not.I, for one, don’t condone gambling, which is an evil, evil thing.Money is the root of all evil, and gambling is the quickest way of gaining money, which is the fastest road to Hell.Don’t go to Hell!

]]>http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/11897/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-15th-2007/feed/0WEEKLY SPORTS WRAP-UP – Mar 8th, 2007http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/11879/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-8th-2007/
http://entertainmenttoday.net/news/nsports/11879/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-8th-2007/#respondThu, 08 Mar 2007 08:00:00 +0000http://enttoday.katzueno.com/s1-news/c57-sports/11879/2007/03/weekly-sports-wrap-up-mar-8th-2007/No gook ever called me nigger.The immortal words of a man who once was the scariest man on the planet, the mouth that spoke out for those who were never afforded the platform that this man fought for and earned for his right to speak.These words never escaped me when I first discovered them.]]>WEEKLY SPORTS WRAP-UP – March 8th, 2007

No gook ever called me nigger.The immortal words of a man who once was the scariest man on the planet, the mouth that spoke out for those who were never afforded the platform that this man fought for and earned for his right to speak.These words never escaped me when I first discovered them.

The sight of the great Muhammad Ali courtside at a Lakers road game the past weekend, a fragile shell that once housed the spirit of a generation watching a sport where race issues become a daily, now silenced by a disease that has stolen his fierceness, takes on a certain sadness for something lost.The repeated viewings like these soften his image, making acceptable what once scared many.They forgot what made him the scariest man on the planet.A sort of proletariat king, who fought against the repression of free will by those who impose their will on those under them.He put his career and life on the line so that he wouldn’t have to lose it in the jungles of an unknown land fighting an unknown war of skirmishes with an unknown enemy.He chose to fight the war at home, with the eternal enemy, the system that has been waging a war against their own people.

Should I be offended?I can’t see things that simple.Those words came when he tried to send the machine upended.It’s as though they’re trying to pretend like it all never happened.Sometimes there are things that can never be comprehended.

The images of a shaken man, the canvas of nature’s death strokes, diffuse the ferocity of the spirit.Unlike a martyr whose life campaign became the cause of death, a loud bang if significance, Ali’s humanistic legacy slowly drifts away like the whimpering universe of simplistic nostalgia.

A side note.The Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns, with the probable loss of Lamar Odom for the rest of the season after injuring his strong shoulder.Injuries have kept the Lakers grounded all season, especially at this game, and is yet another example of the cyclical phenomenon of cosmic significance.

Paralleled further by the setting of an NBA game.A league who has been nearly as image conscious as baseball, but with issues of cultural identity as opposed to blatant cheating and deception.A league that has imposed a dress code, of all things, on men whose commercial success ties largely into their personalities.At this game, a plucky Canadian named Steve Nash is in the middle of third consecutive MVP campaign.Here we see an image redone.

The tie-ins are apparent, but to only those who can open their mind’s eye to them.Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash.The parallels continue to echo similarities like rhyme form, but can only be heard by those who listen.Do you hear?

Night falls upon Los Angeles, and out come the wolves to meet the coyotes on Los Feliz and Huxley to go do boilermakers at the Roost. A shiver runs down my back as I sit here in the darkness, thinking about past endeavors and failed attempts at life. I know now that to free myself, I must come forth and face the horrific truth, to exorcise the demons that continue to ravage my heart and feast on my soul. I need to free myself of this thing we call sports.

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Night falls upon Los Angeles, and out come the wolves to meet the coyotes on Los Feliz and Huxley to go do boilermakers at the Roost. A shiver runs down my back as I sit here in the darkness, thinking about past endeavors and failed attempts at life. I know now that to free myself, I must come forth and face the horrific truth, to exorcise the demons that continue to ravage my heart and feast on my soul. I need to free myself of this thing we call sports.

A life dedicated to the achievements and physical feats of men who spend the golden years of their careers in their thirties is a life gone awry. Like those who tally winners of entertainment awards and root for actors in categories as worthless as the headline that appears above my words, a sports fan’s life hinges on not only the outcomes of meaningless events, but also the pageantry and frivolity that precedes it. Sports, and entertainment in general, are the opiates of the masses, dulling us to slumber as we ignore the feeding of the beast.

Why can’t we revel in life’s personal moments? Where is the celebration of that moment when your tongue first connects with a bite of a warm blueberry pie, lightly draped with the sweetness of French Vanilla? Why must we care about the secretive phone calls of general managers trying to make trades of human athletes, not unlike children who trade their bananas for pudding cups in the schoolyards? Why didn’t the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak make the trade with the New Jersey Nets to get Jason Kidd? I guess he thinks his PB&J sandwich is better than New Jersey’s left-over fried chicken.

I want to get lost in that scent that is unique to that one spot, right in the back, where a woman’s neck ends and her flowing hair begins, where existence sometimes exist, if only momentarily. I don’t want to get lost in the numbers of the NFL Combine, where old men with clipboards and stopwatches watch young men sprint, and press, and jump, and shuffle into the hearts of these talent scouts. Rumor has it that the young man who’s tagged as the next big thing at the Combine scored a 23 in both his bench press exercise, as well as his Wonderlic test.

Like a suburban drug addict circling the streets of downtown, looking for the legit hookup, I find myself scuttling around the Internet, looking for yet another blog supporting rumors that bigger bloggers boast about knowing, citing others as sources. The search, regardless of its outcome, has left me weary, unable to truly grasp the situation and its dangers that I find myself in. Only when I unfocus my eyes do I focus on my reflection in the monitor’s screen.

Is this my moment of clarity? Is this where I break the addiction? Can I finally get away from the arguments about how Greg Oden’s position as center supercedes Kevin Durant’s pure abilities at the more abundant forward position? I think a trip to the methadone clinic down at the singles bar is in order.

This past week, the sports world offered us up the NBA All-Star Game, a weekend long showcase of all that is NBA, which was held in Las Vegas—the first time an All-Star Game was held in a city without an existing NBA team. One might ask why hold it in a non-NBA city, and I will say that one has never been to Vegas (seriously, if you had to ask, you’re stupid).

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This past week, the sports world offered us up the NBA All-Star Game, a weekend long showcase of all that is NBA, which was held in Las Vegas—the first time an All-Star Game was held in a city without an existing NBA team. One might ask why hold it in a non-NBA city, and I will say that one has never been to Vegas (seriously, if you had to ask, you’re stupid).

Las Vegas—a town where more than a few NBA players own houses, home of the Palms Casino owned by the Maloof brothers who also own the Sacramento Kings, and the legalized debauchery—just made sense. An All-Star weekend is supposed to be a celebration of the achievements of these fine, rich athletes. I think they deserve a vacation in Vegas; God knows the stress levels basketball players have to endure. There have been talks about moving a sports franchise to Vegas, but the existence of sports betting throughout the town, and Vegas’ refusal to remove them from casinos, hinders any possible move. Oh well.

Other basketball stories include trade speculations, most notably with Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Jason Kidd and Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets. One rumor has the Los Angeles Lakers trading Kwame Brown, Jordan Farmar, another player, and maybe a draft pick for Kidd. I say do it, but why respond to rumors? With the trade deadline looming, rumors are going all over the place—to and fro, yes or no, up and down, and always twirling, TWIRLING! TWIRLING!

In other news, Britney Spears shaved her head, and got a couple of tattoos done recently, which is Step Four in Uncle Billy’s “7 Steps Towards Justifying that Trailer You Bought.” She was refused an ad during the Super Bowl, thereby fulfilling the requisite for sports relevancy set by my editors.

Marty Schottenheimer, who has taken several different teams to the best record in the conference but has failed to reach the Super Bowl his whole career, was fired as coach of the San Diego Chargers, and was replaced by Norv Turner, a coach who’s really never won anything. As I’ve said before, San Diego’s not going to have a championship team.

Some of the more popular sports topics recently have been about who can make up the most accurate mockup of the next NFL draft, and the finalization of recruiting classes for next year’s college football season. Most sports writers believe that the Oakland Raiders will use the #1 overall pick on quarterback JaMarcus Russell of LSU, but others think that they might trade down to fill out their many needs on offense. Some others still don’t believe that it’ll matter at all. This has been a recent topic on sports talk radio. Just goes to prove that football rules this country. In related news, the US is still at war in Iraq.

In all honesty, the sports world really failed us this past week. When the week’s top stories are just speculations and conjectures on things that haven’t yet happened, your section in the news failed, as seen in this article. Good thing there are bars such as the Mountain Bar in Chinatown on Hill Street. Next to living a life, working toward a future, reliving the wisdom of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and about anything else productive, drinking with old friends is the best way to recuperate from a slow sports week. And Vic “The Brick” Jacobs still sucks.

At this very moment as my fingers pound out these words, the Detroit Pistons are soundly beating down the Los Angeles Clippers. With their newest addition, Chris Webber, trying to perform his swan song back in his hometown, the man has shown that he is still a dangerous player, given the right situation. Webber did average twenty points and 10 rebounds last year, despite his broken down knees, which will make Detroit a force come May and June.

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At this very moment as my fingers pound out these words, the Detroit Pistons are soundly beating down the Los Angeles Clippers. With their newest addition, Chris Webber, trying to perform his swan song back in his hometown, the man has shown that he is still a dangerous player, given the right situation. Webber did average twenty points and 10 rebounds last year, despite his broken down knees, which will make Detroit a force come May and June.

The strength of the team is the essence of that very word; team. Their top seven players are all effective on the offensive side of the ball, and they compliment one another perfectly. The shiftiness and constant motions of Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, and Lindsey Hunter on the perimeter are in perfect balance with the versatility of their frontcourt of Webber, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess. The fact that all are capable of scoring 20+ on any given night, stretches the other team’s defense. They create so much space on the floor, and they use it well, like musicians with a well-composed song. And, they’re still “considered” a defensive team.

As for the Clippers, they seem to be a step behind where they were last year, when they made their return to the playoffs after years of being in the lottery. Every year, a team comes out of nowhere to become a dangerous playoff participant, but then they come back to Earth the following year. Recent examples, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Seattle Sonics, and Memphis Grizzlies, whom had 60 and 50 plus win seasons within the past three years, haven’t been relevant since making those runs. Though they are in the eighth spot in the West, they haven’t shown anything promising so far this year, and are in danger of joining these other teams in saying, “What the fuck happened to us?”.

As for the other hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers, they are slowly becoming a true dark horse team for the NBA title. Though Dallas and Phoenix are the top two teams, the Lakers have beaten both teams at least once this season, as well as winning the season series against San Antonio, another contender to the throne. They have played with a 60% winning percentage much of the season, despite suffering through injuries to key players. Kobe Bryant is truly playing as an MVP so far this season, finally developing a team-first concept that is causing his younger teammates to overachieve and develop ahead of schedule.

Which finally brings me to one of Kobe’s biggest cheerleaders in the local sports media, Vic “The Brick” Jacobs, a hairy little mutant who station AM570 allows to spew his man crush on Bryant everyday over the radio. When forced to listen to his show while at work recently, I can’t help but wonder what he would do if he was alone with an unconscious Kobe. He is the epitome of the loving fan, who can see no wrong with his favorite athlete and bashes all of his competitors with insane claims of their inferiority to his version of God.

Sports is where the media seem to have the most subjectivity, and Mr. Jacobs is near the end of the spectrum here. Vic, feelin’ you? Well, feel this, you furry bastard!

In recent weeks, the debate over the validity of certain former athletes’ candidacy for the Hall of Fame of their respective sports have been a hot topic for sports radio talk. One aspect of these conversations is the discrepancy of the selection processes of two particular sports, in particular baseball and football.

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In recent weeks, the debate over the validity of certain former athletes’ candidacy for the Hall of Fame of their respective sports have been a hot topic for sports radio talk. One aspect of these conversations is the discrepancy of the selection processes of two particular sports, in particular baseball and football.

In baseball, sports writers are to vote on the candidacy of players with the ability to judge them based on both their performance on the field as well as their behavior off it. In football, a committee is selected to judge a candidate for the Hall based solely on his performance. What is seemly an innocuous difference is more relevant than some might realize or even care to acknowledge.

Baseball’s image as the family pastime is apparent. It is the game where going to the ballpark with the family is one of the more special moments in a child’s young life. Little League: when eight- to ten-year-old children learn the basics of teamwork and work ethic. This is when a boy’s life is seen through the hazily framed gaze of the mind’s eye.

The history of baseball is held in high regard within the framework of American history. From the loss of innocence that stemmed from the Black Sox scandal of 1919, to the heroic precedence established by Jackie Robinson, to Cal Ripken Jr.’s consecutive games played record, America’s moral standard has been linked to the sport. Baseball was America’s first love, the one we’ll always remember in the stoic nostalgia of Ken Burns.

But on the other side, stands football, the brutish game whose resemblance to warfare is stark and overwhelming. The blitz, the sack, the bomb, the battle in the trenches, the lexicon that links the two is obvious. The exponential growth in popularity of the sport can be traced to the start of the Cold War with the Soviets, when the search and destroy, defend and conquer mentality gripped the American conscious.

High school tends to be the time when football takes over a young male’s passions. A time when testosterone is firing off at an ungodly rate, the barbarism of football squashes the innocence long forgotten in Little League. Sure, Pop Warner starts them off young, but it is high school football where the passion for it all is truly fortified.

These two sports represent the two halves of American moral identity. The baseball Hall of Fame’s need to focus on the individual is similar to that of a child’s hope in his heroes, whereas football’s Hall is a meritocracy that damns the content of a man’s heart, as long as he can earn his franchise more money with his performance on the field.

Whether or not this is all relevant in the grand scheme of things is not really the point. These are, after all, just games that both turned into corporate monstrosities that propel the capitalistic machine of which we are all cogs, but the social significance within these machinations of capitalism is something that grew organically within American society. That should be something most unsettling to a sports fan.